


A Different Sort of Meeting

by Brynhildr



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Gen or Pre-Slash, Implied Relationships, M/M, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-13 22:37:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13580370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brynhildr/pseuds/Brynhildr
Summary: What if Bilbo had met the dwarves before the journey across Middle Earth had even entered Thorin's mind? Just a little one shot of a hobbit and a couple dwarves.





	A Different Sort of Meeting

Bilbo hummed as he looked over the intricate metalwork set out on the smooth wooden platform of a smith's stall. He rarely saw such detailed work in the market of Bree and was contemplating buying a rather elegant cloak brooch when his eyes fell on a small dagger.

Respectable Hobbits did not carry daggers.

But Bilbo wasn't the most respectable of hobbits, going on walking holidays with only his little napsack and walking stick, exchanging letters with elves, and inviting wizards to tea.

The dagger was small, obviously not meant for the large hands of Men. The blade was wickedly sharp, he could tell by how it caught the light (like his father's special tomato knife that had once sliced his mother's finger open) and well polished in the afternoon sun. The handle was what truly caught his attention. It was smooth stained oak, inlaid with mother of pearl, a rarity so far from the coast. What he loved most about it were the designs of the inlay: tiny acorns and leaves. The level of craftsmanship was unheard of in these parts and did not match the other pieces set out on the stand: copper and silver wire necklaces and bracelets, sturdy iron fireplace sets, and a mishmash of belt buckles, brooches, and kitchen tools. As he reached for the knife, a throat cleared and he looked up to see a young blonde dwarf with a charming smile.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Master Hobbit? We have quite a variety at the moment."

Bilbo smiled back while pointing to the knife.

"Yes, I'd love to get a closer look at that dagger, if you wouldn't mind?" 

The dwarf nodded and gently picked up the knife, holding it out to Bilbo to admire.

"This is one of my uncle's work, as you can see from his mark," he gestured to the small maker's mark engraved into the blade close to the handle. "It's perfectly balanced for throwing, small enough to hide in a boot." He paused and looked down at the hobbit's bare feet. "Or not, if you prefer keeping it tucked in a belt or up a sleeve. Sharp enough to cut through just about everything plant or animal based, but it's intended purpose is for self defense. Oak handle, obviously, with mother of pearl inlay, taken from the shores past the Blue Mountains. I believe it would fit your hand nicely."

He placed the knife in Bilbo's hand, correcting his grip as he looked it over. 

"Yes, I think this dagger fits very nicely," the dwarf smiled. "If you need any throwing lessons, we'll be in town through the end of next week, I'd be happy to show you." 

Bilbo, who had already been sold on the little knife, looked up surprised at the offer.

"Do you truly have nothing better to do with your time than teach a hobbit knife throwing?" 

The dwarf looked around behind him quickly before leaning forward and gesturing Bilbo closer.

"Truthfully, I'm incredibly bored here in Bree. My uncle spends all his free time in the smithy making horse shoes for the men and the townspeople rarely engage us in conversation as we are not familiar faces. A few hobbits have been by our stall, but otherwise was have been mostly looked over in favor of the regulars."

The blond dwarf looked slightly depressed by that thought and Bilbo found himself making an offer he never thought he would ever make.

"Well, if you are free tonight, come join me for dinner at the Prancing Pony, I will be sorely lacking in company otherwise, and afterward you can teach me some knife tricks. Invite your uncle if he is agreeable. Oh, and I'll be taking the knife, and two of those silver brooches. And how much for the fire poker set?"

This started off a ten minute haggling session which left the both feeling quite satisfied, one with more coin, and the other less, and an agreement to meet that night for dinner.

"Just ask Barlyman for Bilbo Baggins and he'll point you in my direction." Bilbo said with a smile. "That's my name, in case you were wondering." The blond dwarf laughed and gave a short bow. 

"A pleasure to meet you Master Baggins! Fili son of Dís, at your service. I have a feeling we're going to get along splendidly!"

..............

Later that evening Bilbo found himself seated at the little table closest to the fire, a pint of ale in hand and a man sized plate of stew and potatoes set in front of him. He was halfway through the stew (a little heavy on sage in his opinion, and not nearly enough carrots, but the meat was flavorful and not tough) when Fili made his way over to the table with two pints in his hand.

"Master Baggins!" He greeted over the noise of the inn! "I've brought you a fresh pint from the bartender and he said your pie should be ready soon." Fili hooked his foot around the chair leg before drawing it out and sitting down carefully with his liquid cargo. "I must say, this inn is definitely more subdued that I had expected from my uncle's tales. He made it seem as if fights broke out regularly." 

Bilbo huffed a laugh.

"Only if you wish to be tossed out on your head by the owner or his wife. It does get rowdy here later, but only on rainy nights when no one wishes to remain outside. I've come here often enough and been able to avoid trouble. Mostly because I'm wise enough to stay out of the way and eat quickly!" they both chuckled. The barmaid set down a plate of stew and bread in front of Fili and an entire apple pie in front of Bilbo. Fili's eyes widened as he watched Bilbo methodically eat the entire dessert in minutes.

"So, what brings you to Bree?" Fili asked after he realized he had been staring. "You obviously are familiar with the area."

Bilbo nodded, wiping his lips daintily with a napkin.

"Yes, I come here for books." 

"Books?" The dwarf asked in confusion. "Surely you have books where you live?"

"Oh, yes!" Said the hobbit. "But there are only so many books one can read about the proper soil conditions necessary for growing petunias or the newest etiquette book from the matrons. I've grown very fond of children's stories in the latter years. There's a book collector here in Bree who sources stories from Rohan, Gondor, and as far as the Iron Hills. I enjoy reading them, and perhaps expanding upon them, to my young cousins. I'm known as being slightly eccentric with my 'extensive' travels."

"Have you traveled much?" Fili asked, noticing the weird stress Bilbo placed on the word.

" For a Hobbit, I suppose you could say I'm quite well-travelled. But I have not travelled much further than Bree. I have gone on what we call walking holidays into the woods and beyond. But never as far as Rivendell, but my mother, and she was a Took, traveled there often in her youth. One day I hope to travel to Ilmadris and meet with Lord Elrond. It would be good to know if my Sindarin is adequate. There is only so much one can learn from writing." Bilbo pulled his pipe out and began stuffing it. He offered his pipeweed to the dwarf, who gladly accepted.

"I wish to travel," Bilbo continued, lighting his pipe with a sigh. "But I have too many obligations keeping me close to the Shire."

Fili nodded his head in understanding.

"It is very rare for me to leave Ered Luin," he sank back into his chair. "Usually my uncle travels with his cousin, but I believe Dwalin  has been banned from entering the city after his last visit, and my uncle wished to actually sell something this trip, so here I am."

Bilbo huffed.

"Your uncle has the Big Scary Dwarf look, then?"

"Big? Not so much. More like Angry and Disgruntled."

"It is good to know that my nephew speaks so highly of me to others." A deep voice rumbled behind Bilbo, causing the hobbit to jerk and turn to look at the stocky dark haired dwarf holding a pint.

"Uncle Thorin! I thought you were going to be at the smithy all night!" Fili exclaimed, pulling out a chair for his kin. "Bilbo, may I introduce my Uncle Thorin, son of Thrain. Uncle, this is Master Bilbo Baggins of the Shire. He's the one who bought your special dagger!" Fili said with a lowered voice as he leaned closer. "He's been telling me of his love of children's stories and books."

"I hope Fili has not been a bother, Master Baggins," the dwarf said as he looked the hobbit over. Bilbo shivered under the intense gaze and flicked his eyes briefly at Fili, who was busy shooting his uncle an incredulous look.

"Ah, no. Fili has been most pleasant company. He even has offered to teach me some knife throwing tricks, though I can't believe it could be much more difficult than using a sling shot."

Now Fili turned his incredulous stare at Bilbo.

"They are totally different!" He exclaimed. "Not even to be compared! Uncle, as soon as you are finished we must demonstrate proper knife throwing for Bilbo." 

Thorin looked like the only thing he wanted to do after eating was sleep, but he rolled his eyes and nodded. 

"Can't have you hurting yourself on your own knife." 

Fili and Bilbo both huffed and turned back to their conversation of children's tales. 

Once Thorin had completed dinner and a pipe, Fili practically dragged his uncle and the hobbit out of the inn and toward the town smithy.

"We won't be a bother here," he said reasonably as the two behind him protested. 

The smithy was empty when they arrived, the fires banked for the night and tools cleaned and returned to their hanging hooks along the wall. Fili quickly placed Bilbo on a lot stool and began explaining the finer points of knife throwing using excited gesticulations and demonstrating using his own knife. After several throws, he had Bilbo attempt to throw one of his boot knives at a cross beam. It took nearly a half hour before Bilbo was able to get the little knife to hit the wood tip first (not the handle! The handle won't stop an orc! When will I be needing to stop an orc?) and make it stick. By the time Bilbo was declared 'satisfactory for a first attempt' Thorin had fallen asleep leaning against the wall. 

"Oh, I didn't realize he was that tired," Fili frowned. "He should have gone on to bed without me." 

Bilbo shook his head.

"Let's get him to bed. Where are you staying? The Pony?" 

Fili frowned, looking between his uncle and the small hobbit. 

"I can hardly pick up my uncle by myself, and I'm not sure how much hobbits can carry, but I doubt a full grown dwarf is considered an easy burden. And I'm not sure how we'd be able to get him into the caravan..."

"... You're sleeping in your-I mean- I don't mean to be rude. But why not stay at the inn?"

Fili sank down on the stool next to his uncle and draped his cloak over the lightly snoring dwarf. 

"We are trying to make as much as we can for our family back in the mountains. If we stay in the inn, we will use up much of the coin that we make and there are those in the settlement that need it more. Uncle is always thinking of the others. What is a little discomfort to ourselves when there are children at home that need food?" 

Bilbo frowned at the sleeping dwarf and his blonde nephew as he contemplated the words.

"If it isn't too forward of me, and you are welcome to decline of you feel I am overstepping my bounds, I do have a room at the inn, and there are two beds, hobbit sized, of course, but you are welcome, if you wish, I do not mean to imply-"

"Master Baggins," Thorin huffed as he opened one eye. "Speak plainly."

"I have a bed," Bilbo said firmly. "You and your nephew are welcome to stay with me in the inn, if you would not find it improper."

The dwarf blinked sleepily.

"I'll not say no to a proper bed," he said with a yawn. Bilbo nodded.

"Well, then. That's, yes. Follow me." And he set off toward the inn, two dwarves following behind. This was turning into a very interesting trip indeed.

.........

Bilbo woke up early. Very early. Much earlier than first breakfast had any right to be.

He groaned when he heard whispering nearby.

"Go back to sleep," he grumbled and tugged the covers close over his head. Only what he grabbed did not seem to be a blanket. It was rather warm. And dense. And alive. He opened his eyes and saw that he had grabbed Fili's tunic and had pulled the dwarf partially on top of his small body.

"Why are you in my bed?" He groaned. "How much did I drink last night?"

"Not that much, hobbit," Thorin huffed from the other side of the room. 

"Uncle pushed me off the bed in the middle of the night, and you had much more room in your bed..." He trailed off as Bilbo lifted an eyebrow at him. "And I'm used to sharing a bed with my brother, not my uncle?" He finished lamely.

Thorin chuckled.

"I must return to the smithy to finish a few orders before noon. Fili, you will man the stall."

"Yes, uncle," he murmured, slipping back into sleep and cuddling Bilbo. The hobbit blushed when Thorin rolled his eyes and bid him pleasant dreams before departing. Bilbo sighed. How did he get himself into these situations?

.......

It was a few days later when Bilbo walked out of the book seller's shop with a large stack of books in his arms. He had finally received what he had journeyed for and it was time that he travel back to his hobbit hole. He walked over to the dwarven stall where he saw Fili patiently explaining something to an elderly man who seemed hard of hearing. Bilbo was going to miss his new friends. 

"Ah! Master Baggins! How can I be of service on this sunny morning!" Fili grinned when the man had left and his eyes had fallen on the hobbit. "I see you've gotten your books! Does this mean you will be leaving us?" Fili looked rather disappointed that the hobbit would be leaving.

"Yes, I'm afraid I am needed back at Bag End. However, I leave on the morrow and came to ask for one more throwing lesson before I depart. Would this evening be acceptable?" the hobbit asked with a smile.

"Only if we share another few pints before you leave!" Fili returned his smile before he looked beyond Bilbo to an approaching customer. "Until then, Master Baggins!"

Bilbo nodded and returned to the inn to pack his belongings. 

.........

 Thorin, Fili, and Bilbo sat in companionable silence in the noisy inn. Their meals were eaten, their pipes smoked, and the thoughts of Bilbo's imminent departure were heavy upon their minds.

"Tea is at four," Bilbo said suddenly. The two dwarves looked at him questioningly. "If you ever find yourselves in Hobbiton. Bag End is impossible to miss, top of the hill, green door. I'd quite enjoy having visitors, if those visitors were you."

"Do you not often entertain visitors?" Thorin asked.

"Mostly my relations, who only come asking after my mother's silverware and if I had any thought to take a wife-"

"We will visit, if only to see if your cousin truly dresses as horribly as you say she does," Fili responded. "Also, I'm sure Kili will be dying to meet you!"

Bilbo smiled.

"He and all your kin are welcome anytime," Bilbo promised.

"That is not an invitation made lightly," Thorin responded. "You do not know all of our kin."

"Come, uncle. Let's enjoy this evening and argue about Gloin's manners later." 

They spent the rest of the evening telling stories and jokes by the fire until they retired for bed. As Bilbo slipped into his bedroom, he was startled to find the beds had been moved together and both Fili and Thorin looking anxiously at the hobbit. 

"Right, well. Get in." Bilbo decided. To hell with propriety. He changed quickly into his night clothes and slipped into bed between the two dwarves who immediately latched onto him like small children with a doll. He fell asleep warm and content. Not proper hobbit behavior, but thoroughly comforting, Bilbo thought as he succumbed to his dreams.

.........

Bilbo found himself sitting on his garden bench one day in the Autumn, puffing on his pipe and watching his neighbor's children playing with a cat in the middle of the lane. The air was crisp and the sun bright, a perfect morning for a pipe. His mind often wandered to the dwarven friends he had made and he had taken to fiddling with his little knife to keep his hands busy (much to the dismay of his more conservative cousins and neighbors). He found himself wishing, again, that his friends would visit, when a little squeal sounded from down the lane.

"Hello, young miss and young master hobbits! Do you know where I might find a Mr Baggins of Bag End?"  a familiar, polite voice asked.

"Oh, Mr Bilbo lives right up the lane! I'll show you!" Hamfast's youngest proclaimed. 

Bilbo sat up straighter and peered over the fence with a widening smile as he watched four dwarves, two familiar and two unknown, walk slowly up the path behind a tiny fauntling and her brother.

"Good morning!" He exclaimed, opening his gate. "Come in, come in! I'll put on a pot of tea!"

"And some special cookies?" The elder fauntling asked hopefully.

"Yes! Cookies and cake, I think." Bilbo opened his door and smiled at the dwarves and their guides. "We might as well make it a proper little party!" 

Within two hours the whole of Hobbiton had heard about the dwarves at Bag End.

Especially the one with inkings on his head.

And the excitable young one with the arrows.

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins was left foaming at the mouth when she heard from the Gamgee's youngest that they had been served on the good china.

Bilbo had even let them use the good silver spoons. 

She fainted when she heard they were planning to stay the for a week.

Bilbo had never laughed so hard in his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading. This just popped into my head and had to be written.  
> Not planning to expand this at all, just a little drabble (or a long drabble). Please leave comments so I can continue improving my writing.


End file.
